Responsibilities: Responding to Country with Care and Respect
This lesson invites students to engage with responsibility through observation and awareness of signs and changes in Country, expanding their understanding beyond just auditory listening.
Listen
Responsibility means responding — it’s about paying attention not just to sounds, but to the ways Country shows us what it needs through signs, changes, and actions.
- Think about how Country communicates beyond sounds:
- How does the health of a river or the condition of a tree tell us something?
- What changes in the land or water might signal a need for care?
- How do seasons, weather, or animal behaviours remind us of our role in looking after Country?
- Listen with your whole self — observe closely, feel the environment, and notice the ways Country calls for respect and care.
Reflect
Think about your relationship and responsibilities to the land and water around you:
Call and Response
- What do the sounds you hear say about what Country needs?
- How might you respond with care and respect?
River Responsibilities
- “River people have river responsibilities.”
- What native plants or animals live near you that depend on the river or water?
- What might these living beings ask of you to help care for them?
Rock and Water
- What messages might the rocks, mountains, rivers, or dew drops hold?
- How can you listen and respond to these voices of Country?
Create
Write a poem that responds to the call of Country and reflects your responsibilities:
Call and Response
Write a poem that listens to the sounds around you and responds respectfully.
- What is Country asking for?
- How does your poem answer back?
River Responsibilities
Choose a local native species connected to your river or waterway.
- Write a poem as a conversation between you and that living thing.
- What do they ask of you? How will you respond?
Rock and Water
Give voice to a rock, a mountain, a river, or a dew drop.
- Write a poem that lets these elements speak, and include your own response.
- Explore how listening and responding builds responsibility.
Share
- Share your poem with family, friends, or classmates.
- Listen carefully to others’ poems and reflect on the different ways we can respond to Country.
- Use Cycle Thinking: Share, listen, reflect — then create again!
- Notice how sharing deepens your understanding of responsibility and connection.
Tips for Teachers and Families
- Encourage students to spend time outdoors listening and observing with care.
- Support respectful and thoughtful creative responses to Country’s needs.
- Help younger learners focus on simple observations and feelings about responsibility.
- Foster an environment where sharing and listening are valued equally.
- Link the activity to local Indigenous knowledge about caring for land and water.
- Use Cycle Thinking to deepen learning: encourage sharing, listening, reflecting, and re-creating.